by Erin R Flynn
I glanced up at the person and saw where they were pointing, knowing it was starting. I swallowed what I was eating and tucked the rest in the bag, tossing it back to Mel. Even I had limits of when I could eat.
And right then wasn’t one of them.
Bugs, snakes, and vermin from a large radius all around the stadium were coming, drawn to the rune I’d written… And focused on the guy. He turned and saw where she’d pointed too, horror filling his eyes as he realized what I’d done. He gave me a panicked look.
“Put a barrier on me. Now. Do it now, you crazy bitch.”
I snorted. “That’s how you ask for something?”
“Do it now or I will kill you!”
“Fuck you,” I chuckled.
“Do it! I yield. Put up the barrier,” he bellowed.
“No. If I do it now, that will count as I used the rune and then I can’t use it latter. Sorry.”
“You’re not sorry at all,” he growled.
“Of course I’m not. You deserve this.”
“I will gut you.”
“Good luck with that. You can’t even handle this I bet besides to run,” I taunted. “Go run to mommy and daddy. I’m sure they’ll help you. Or use fire. Burn them and use your turn.”
“I’ll burn you.”
“I suggest you not after you just threatened to kill her and I’m standing next to her,” Professor Pillay warned.
He was out of time then, the first wave reaching him. He screamed as mice, rats, and more climbed up him, biting on him like bait. The snakes reached him next and as much as I wanted to give that my sole attention, I had other things I was working on.
Like making someone puke. One woman did onto another competitor who I’d also been working with and it set off a chain reaction of several people who were already queasy and freaking out.
And a couple I hadn’t even been messing with but apparently didn’t do well around vomit.
“Well I didn’t see that coming,” I admitted honestly, blinking at the dozen people who puked on others.
“Take it off!” the guy screeched as he tried to run from his new friends.
I shrugged. “Sorry, I can’t. It wears off. You might want to try and out run the bugs before they get here but maybe going outside would be worse.”
“You’re insane!” people shouted from the stands.
“He’s a snake, a rat who’s been harassing my friend that there’s no such thing as lesbians and threatening to rape her so she can learn what she really needs,” I threw right back, not hiding my hate for him. “You’re lucky this was all I gave him. Bitch at the school board who gave me the free pass and first shot at him and changed the rules to try and humiliate me and none of you objected. This is on you, not me.”
“And she certainly didn’t do that,” someone added, gesturing to the vomiting mess of people. Some yielded and were already leaving the field, others were freaking out that they had puke on them and were demanding time to clean up before their turn.
I shrugged. “Let them go at the end and clean up in the locker room. I don’t care.”
“That’s very giving of you,” one of the teachers muttered, not hiding his shocked expression. “Especially considering how you’re fighting.”
I snorted, pointing to one woman in particular. “She’s not getting out of this so easily because of a little vomit. I have a rune picked out just for her and all her lies. I want her back out here to get her comeuppance in front of the whole supe world.”
She went pale and I heard from her thoughts she wanted to yield but her parents would beat her ass if she did.
Good. I didn’t feel one ounce of pity for a horrid bitch like her. There were other people with shitty parents who became wonderful people. Just because your parents were monsters never, not ever justified you becoming one.
10
I was especially brutal to the next several people and not just because they were assholes. Oh no, the thoughts of others in line were on the fence of bailing so I decided to push them over.
Or shove them really. I didn’t even have to push images into their minds and two vomited on their own when I used a blood boiling rune that had a guy burning from the inside. Blood leaked out of his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.
One woman fainted. Dropped like a rock.
“Hey, he could have yielded right away,” I reminded people. “Stubborn ass. His thoughts were I couldn’t take it as long as he could. If nothing else this might give some of these douchebags a much needed reality check and a large serving of humble pie.”
“Amen, Tams, amen,” Mel called over. “Take a break. Don’t push.”
“But, Mom, I’m not tired,” I played whined as I headed over to her, Zack and Ray losing the battle to stay stoic.
“Clean up, aisle four,” Zack announced, pointing to the passed out student.
That was it, we all lost it and I could tell from other guards who were on the field watching as security were dying as well. Others in the crowd did not find us funny but well, fuck them.
Honestly, I was having a great time, and not just because I got to dole out some much needed justice to assholes, but because it was a chance to test the limits of my magic in a way no sane person would volunteer for. Like the guy I used a wind rune on to toss into a tornado. I mean, that was great to know I could manage that and an awesome fighting tactic.
I was still nice to the ones who’d never done me wrong and weren’t bad people. There was no reason to be cruel. One guy I used the light rune to make it seem like a huge disco ball was above the stadium, changing the colors and even timing it to the rhythm to the song I played on my phone.
I used a paper rune to make life-sized paper dolls that ran up into the stands and danced to a different song later.
Then there was the rainbow rune that I had race along like it was doing the wave and explode into glitter all over the arena. I wasn’t sure I could come up with hundreds of nice runes but if all else failed, there were a lot of runes for flowers and I did memorize them all so it wasn’t only tulips I could make appear.
Though those took a lot of magic.
Unfortunately, there were a lot of assholes I was up against.
Fortunately, that gave me a chance to practice a lot of attacks and fighting runes.
Fine. By. Me.
About halfway through the asshole I’d been looking forward to most took his turn. I smiled evilly at him. “You should yield.”
“Only losers have that word in their vocabulary,” he sneered.
I snorted. “Says the guy who’s said it lots in training class, but whatever, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“I can take what you’ve dished out. All of it. They were all weak.”
No, they weren’t. He simply was a narcissist to a whole other level. He was a monster. One I had no problem taking down.
Hell, I would enjoy it.
I wrote the rune and pushed power into it, smiling when he snarled in pain as it was seared into his flesh with my magic. I’d warned Geiger I planned this one specifically so double check the rules. Once I told him the specifics and why he was fine with it.
When it was over, the guy lifted his shirt and glanced down. “That’s it? A brand? Are you out of tricks already you can’t even—”
“Are you insane, Vale?” a man bellowed.
The guy’s father… Who was on the school board. I smirked up at the guy. “Karma’s a bitch and so am I.”
“Take it off this instant!”
“No, though I do find it odd you can immediately recognize it from that distance. Has your disgusting son almost had it put on him before?”
“And it can’t be taken off,” Pillay worried. “That’s the whole point of it. No one can take it off.”
“No, no one can,” I chuckled darkly.
“What is it?” the guy demanded, glancing between Pillay, his father, and me. “What did you do to me?”
“I branded you with the celibacy rune,” I j
eered. “Say goodbye to using your dick for ten years.”
“You did what?” he roared before launching at me.
I dove out of the way, dodging him easily. “Oh dear, physical violence disqualifies you.”
“As does using that rune, Ms. Vale,” his father stated firmly.
“Actually, it does not,” Geiger countered. “There is no rule that forbids any elder punishment only runes unless death ones. The reason for that being sometimes they get creative with their punishing as I believe was Ms. Vale’s intent.”
“Who the fuck is she to punish my son for anything?” he shot right back.
“One of the women he wants to rape,” I shouted, quieting all of them before I focused on the asshole. “You were in league with the master’s students who wanted to strip me naked and toss me out in the hail during the plagues last semester. Unless I put my loud mouth to better use. Just a stupid redheaded slut, right?”
“How did you…” He trailed off, realizing what he was saying.
“You idiots went right by me,” I chuckled darkly. “It’s like there’s magic in this world.” I did jazz hands just to extra mock him. “And your thoughts ever since are how you missed out on the chance to get me after they knocked me down. Just like you have others. You like prey that have been already abused. That’s your type. You like them already traumatized.”
Rage filled his eyes, his thoughts full of murder I was saying this so publicly. “You’re just spouting shit to justify your own sickness. You’re a misandrist. We all know it.”
“Is that the new rumor you’re all trying for this month?” I snorted, hearing it from his mind. “Right, so my boyfriend is for cover? The fact I like the campus guards just fine? I get along with Craftsman, Edelman, and Nelson. The male Rothchilds. The male hobgoblins. Mr. Geiger. All of them aren’t men? Your logic is I must hate men. Right, because logic is I hate assholes.
“There are women I hate too because they are assholes. You’re a sick fuck and a rapist. You’ve raped women who can’t stand up to you because daddy would crush them for even suggesting you did anything wrong. Because this society is sexist and doesn’t value a woman as a man. Because you have money to make your problems—or accusers—go away.
“So, fuck you and now I’ve made the problem go away. Want to rape someone? Good luck getting hard for the next ten years. And the best part? Daddy set this up so you can’t touch me. Free shot. No recourse. And you lost your chance to even get me back because you broke the rules attempting to use physical violence.”
“This won’t stand,” he seethed.
I held my hands out, gesturing to everyone around us. “Everyone heard me warn you to yield. Only losers yield, right? You could take anything I could throw at you, right? I followed the rules your father helped change with the school board to fuck me over. What charges are you going to bring against me? Sticking it to you back? Being smarter and more powerful than you? Good luck with that.”
I turned away and headed towards Mel, wanting the break as that branded rune actually took a good deal of power since it lasted ten years.
“Tamsin!” Mel bellowed in warning.
I was already prepared though, having the barrier up and even protecting Pillay just in case. I patted myself on the back for that later as the attack he launched would have hurt her too if I’d not covered her. The power clap he sent wasn’t as bad as mine, but it was wild and given she wasn’t ten feet from me, and a clap went out like ripples in water, yeah, it would have hurt her.
I spun around and inverted the barrier, containing him in a bubble before glancing at her. “You good?”
“Yes, thank you,” she muttered, giving me a shocked look. “You had one ready.”
I nodded. “He’s a bully, a coward. He likes going after women who’ve been abused. Attacking someone when they’re back is turned is exactly something that would get him going.” I glanced up at Edelman. “That barrier doesn’t count. I have that planned for someone else later.”
“No, you had to protect yourself against someone who broke the rules,” he agreed. “Arrest him. Add intentionally endangering a teacher onto the charges. Professor Pillay could have been seriously wounded with that attack.”
I decided to ride the high and have some fun, glancing at the waiting challengers. “For the record, there are other runes that permanently castrate guys. Others that forever make your swimmers blanks. Raise estrogen levels. Lower testosterone. Some of you mock me for being a book worm but books really have the most interesting things in them.”
Five guys bailed out after that speech. I’d thought I’d get a few more but they were more afraid of embarrassing their parents than getting permanently castrated.
How fucked up was that? I heard it clearly that their parents would cut them off and they’d never get the schooling they needed to so they could have conduits and be true members of our society. That was like being tossed into human society with nothing, completely disowned and chum in the water for the Underground or worse.
Seriously, how horrible. I wished I got free shots at the adults too.
After my break, my opponent was a particularly horrid bitch that I’d been saving something fun for. It wouldn’t hurt her… Not physically at least.
She screamed like crazy as every hair on her body fell off of her. She was not a woman who could pull off being bald, that was for sure. And given how proud she was of her raven mane that went down to her ass, I thought it was hilarious to watch her squat down and hysterically try to pick it up like she could fix what I did.
“It might grow back,” I cooed.
“I will kill you,” she screeched.
“That’s not even the first time you’ve threatened that,” I drawled.
But at least seven girls bailed out. One I was pissed about. I wanted a chance to get her and wasn’t ready to let her go. Mel grabbed my arm in time when I headed in her direction.
“Fine, run away, chicken shit,” I shouted after her as Mel kept me in place. “But one day we won’t be here with all the eyes nor mommy and daddy to protect you. One day I’ll get another shot at you that you won’t be able to bail out of and believe me that I will take it and do more than make you lose your hair.”
“What were you going to do to her?” Zack asked when I headed back to recharge.
“Have her confess to every horrible thing she’s ever done including the fact she hates her parents and is actively trying to kill them.” I nodded when they shot me disbelieving looks. “Yup, the little princess they dote on is researching any sort of poison, spell, potion, or magical item that will kill them without a trace so she can inherit it all once she’s an official adult and not have to put up with them.”
“Yeah, no wonder she yielded,” Mel muttered. “If she had even one brain cell, she had to know that would be what you would do to her. People know you made that council aid confess with an interrogation rune.”
“And there are several of them,” I admitted, smirking when she glanced at me again. “Yeah, I’ve really found some good books.”
“You soak up runes really fast,” Zack praised.
“Not really. It’s work.”
“Faster than most,” Ray argued.
“No, she really works,” Mel defended, reaching into my messenger bag that I used for school and pulling out my main notebook I used for life. I had one big one for classes that I tore out pages to put into binders for classes but this to keep everything else together and in the same place.
Or to practice runes.
Mel showed them the pages and pages of me writing the same runes over and over again to drill them into my head. “She works. Maybe she doesn’t have to write them as often as an average student, but she doesn’t have a photographic memory like you might be thinking. She works.”
“Once I drill it down I don’t forget them though. They become part of me like the English alphabet, so I agree I’m blessed, but yeah, I work for it.”
“Yes, you really
do,” Professor Pillay agreed as she joined us, looking over what she could see. “Impressive. No wonder Dr. Craftsman brags about you so often. I doubt any other student of his is so dedicated. Most practice the runes but assume they will always be able to look up any that aren’t the basics.”
I shook my head. “In the real world, you can’t call time out to look up a rune if you’re attacked or have to protect your home. I doubt I’ll ever be a walking encyclopedia of the probably thousands there really are, but I want a range of them just like anything else I know how to use in a fight.”
“Which is why you will survive all the threats against you whereas others won’t,” she praised. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.”
I decided to try one of the bars from the hobgoblins and I wanted to beg them to make those for me all the time. Not only were they delicious, I felt a rush from them like I was charging up from a reservoir. I had no idea what it was but if I had to guess it was some combo of fae fruit, hobgoblin magic, and just some sort of goodness my soul craved as a fairy.
Seriously, because it left me feeling warm and fuzzy and almost righteous as if every fairy that came before me was standing behind me in spirit to support me in this fight. It was awesome. Then again, I understood why the hobgoblins hadn’t given me the bars before.
They weren’t something to be taken for granted and get spoiled on. No, they were for times when needed and right then was perfect.
I finished strong, making sure to still mess with minds to get people to drop out if they were jerks but not over the line to make them suffer. My strategy was flawless though as I saved some of the strongest—but easiest for me to do—runes to the end for when I was getting tired. People were completely speechless and shocked as the competition went on.
No more arguments. No more trying to say I was feral or insane. No more bullshit about breaking the rules. Just stunned acceptance it was really happening.
There also wasn’t much cheering. I could understand that. People either didn’t want to go against the powerful elites I was pissing off or what I was doing was fairly gruesome at times. I should almost be glad that as a society we’d evolved beyond cheering for the gladiator who won after killing someone.
